Indiana County Parks

[Statkowski]

Sent a letter to the county commissioners on June 22nd. No response yet. A follow-up letter will be sent if not response is received within an acceptable period.

Here's my letter. Feel free to copy as appropriate for your letters.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

The Honorable Rodney Ruddock
County Commissioner Chairman
825 Philadelphia Street
Indiana, Pennsylvania 15701

Re: IndianaCountyParks & Trails Rules and Regulations Ordinance



Dear Commissioner Ruddock:

As you are aware, the Commonwealth’s Uniform Firearms Act (1995) reads as follows:

18 Pa. C.S. §6120. Limitation on the Regulation of Firearms and Ammunition.

(a) General rule. No county, municipality or township may in any manner regulate the lawful ownership, possession, transfer or transportation of firearms, ammunition or ammuni­tion components when carried or transported for purposes not prohibited by the laws of this commonwealth.

Your undated IndianaCounty parks ordinance, however, does just that. Perhaps it was not corrected when the Uniform Firearms Act came into being? Perhaps it was overlooked when you last updated the ordinance. In any event, it outlaws the lawful carrying for firearms for self-defense, specifically:

• Section VI (Recreational Activities), Subsection F (Hunting Trapping and Firearms) states: “Hunt, trap, carry, bring into, and/or discharge any type of gun, pistol, revolver, air gun, bow and arrow, sling shot or any other weapon in any park except in those specific areas designated for such purposes, nor shall any person shoot into any park from beyond any park boundaries.”

• Subsection H (Contraband) further states, in part: “…Any weapon or object carried or used by any person is violation of these rules shall be subject to seizure by the appropriate authority or its agents and disposed of according to law.”

• The Parks Regulations posted on the website (http://www.indianacountyparks.org/faqs/regs.html) state, in part: “Firearms are prohibited, except in areas designated for hunting.”

What does this mean? Well, the parts of the county ordinance prohibiting the carrying of firearms are unenforceable, are null and void since they’ve exceeded the authority of the county commission, and are in violation of state law. County government may indeed regulate the discharge of firearms, but not the carrying of same. Should a deputy sheriff, park police or other police officer “enforce” such ordinance, wrongful arrest and abuse of office charges could be laid on the officer, and civil rights violations be filed against the police officer, the police department and Indiana County – not an inexpensive proposition for any defendant.

As stated, I am assuming this is just an oversight on your part and will be readily rectified. According to State Police figures, IndianaCounty has approximately 5,600 residents licensed to carry firearms concealed (and “open carry” requires no license at all). How many residents already carry in county parks? I do know, should I visit a county park, I would be carrying for personal protection purposes.

Trusting this matter will be attended to in an expeditious manner, I remain,

Most Sincerely Yours,





Henry J. Statkowski


cc: Mr. Ed Patterson, Parks Director
IndianaCountyParks & Trails
1128 Blue Spruce Road
Indiana, PA 15701

[headcase]

Originally Posted by Statkowski

Sent a letter to the county commissioners on June 22nd. No response yet. A follow-up letter will be sent if not response is received within an acceptable period.

Here's my letter. Feel free to copy as appropriate for your letters.

OMG You guys are going to ruin it for all of us!!!!!!!!!!!


J/K

Great job once again!!

[mjf]

I've OC'd at Blue Spruce park in Indiana... no problems...

I sent them an email a few weeks back and got the following reply:

...

Your e-mail has been forwarded to the Indiana County Solicitor for his review and comment. Enforcement of regulations within the park system is under the authority of the Indiana County Sheriff's Department. Our agency is responsible for the maintenance and operations of the parks, not law enforcement.

So, sounds like the sheriff's department enforces their regulations. Maybe we should have an Indiana OC picnic.

Maybe we could write the sheriff's department advising them not to enforce this?

[mjf]

http://www.indianacountyparks.org/faqs/regs.html appears to have been modified to exclude the full pdf of county park ordinances.

For posterity purposes I've attached the pdf.

I should note, their regulation on the carry of firearms remains on the faq page. It's just, for whatever reason, the full set of regulations was taken down.

[Statkowski]

No response received to first letter. So.....

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

The Honorable Rodney Ruddock
County Commissioner Chairman
825 Philadelphia Street
Indiana, Pennsylvania 15701

Re: IndianaCountyParks & Trails Rules and Regulations Ordinance



Dear Commissioner Ruddock:

A month ago, on June 22nd, I wrote to you and asked that the Indiana County Parks & Recreation Ordinance be corrected to comply with state law.

To date I have received neither an acknowledgement of my request nor a response of any kind.

A copy of my original letter is enclosed.

Your attention to this matter would be appreciated.

Respectfully yours,

[Mtbkski]

Good job. Keep on them. Betterhalf is from Clymer. So, I find myself in Indiana quite often.

[Statkowski]

RESPONSE RECEIVED!

August 7, 2008

Dear Mr. Statkowski:

This is to acknowledge receipt of your letter on July 22 asking that the Indiana County Parks and Recreation Ordinance be corrected to comply with state law.

Both our parks director and county solicitor have been informed of your request and are addressing the matter. It is my understanding from informal discussions with our solicitor that we will be considering changes to the ordinance to bring it in line with the Commonwealth's Uniform Firearms Act.

Sincerely,

Rodney D. Ruddock, Indiana County Commissioners Chairman

RDR/jb

cc: Commissioner David S. Frick
Commissioner Patricia A. Evanko
Mr. Mike Clark, County Solicitor
Mr. Ed Patterson, County Parks and Trails Director

It's not a slam-dunk yet, but they now acknowledge that a problem exists and are working to rectify it.

[mjf]

Originally Posted by Statkowski

RESPONSE RECEIVED!

It's not a slam-dunk yet, but they now acknowledge that a problem exists and are working to rectify it.

Great news!

[gnbrotz]

Excellent news!

[Jailkeeper]

Originally Posted by Statkowski

RESPONSE RECEIVED!


It's not a slam-dunk yet, but they now acknowledge that a problem exists and are working to rectify it.

Nice. (10 chars.)